Man stung 200 times by bees sues TXU (Waco, Texas)

Associated Press ^ | May 28, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Man stung 200 times by bees sues TXU

05/28/2003

Associated Press

WACO, Texas - A man stung more than 200 times by bees is suing TXU Corp., alleging the utility company knew the swarm lived in an abandoned underground gas meter box and didn't warn the public.

Kenneth Lehrmann of Mart is seeking unspecified damages, including hospital expenses and lost wages, in a lawsuit filed in Waco's 170th State District Court.

The suit also claims TXU was negligent for knowingly harboring the beehive, failing to maintain the meter box and failing to remove the box after it was not being used.

TXU spokeswoman Normalinda Gonzalez of Dallas said Tuesday that the company has not been served with the lawsuit and declined to comment.

TXU officials have denied prior knowledge of the bees, said Lehrmann's attorney Matt Johnson.

However, a TXU employee has said he was sent to the site at least twice in an effort to get rid of the bees before Lehrmann was stung, Johnson said.

Lehrmann was mowing a lot near the Mart Community Center on Oct. 3, 2001, when he noticed that a nearby lot on which the Mart High School band practices was overgrown. He was mowing that lot when a swarm of bees flew from an underground meter box and started stinging him, Johnson said.

Lehrmann missed about two weeks of work, Johnson said.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/052803dntexstung.61f9bf26.html

[MeekOneGOP]

I don't find a thing on this in today's edition of the Waco Paper.

[McLynnan]

don't find a thing on this in today's edition of the Waco Paper.

I read the full print edition today and didn't see this story. They do publish a regular list of court filings -- maybe this will show up then. Does this makes me eligible to sue for fire ant mounds around my water meter? ; )

[Mister Baredog]

The suit also claims TXU was negligent for knowingly harboring the beehive,

LOL! He's using the BUSH doctrine, broadly interpreted, I must say.

[bigfootbob]

I wonder if a savvy attorney could extrapolate this logic to allow me to sue the US Agriculture department? 20 years ago I was stung multiple times. The physicians stopped counting at 150.

I was plowing a parcel of land that had been locked up by the land bank program for the previous 5 years. I unearthed a large hive of ground wasps.

I never once thought about suing anyone. Yet more feminization of America. Would John Wayne have sued over this wussy accident?

[buffyt]

Oh my, great news for me! I am deadly allergic to RED WASPS. Two more stings and I am dead. My allergy doctor told me so. Since then I have managed to avoid them. I keep a fly swatter and hornet/wasp poison spray by the back door.... But.... If one comes out of the elec., gas, or water meter, can my family sue for MILLION$? It is the American Way. </sarcasm>

[buffyt]

Don't blame women for that! I am a woman and I don't go around suing people! I am probably MORE conservative than you are. I am way to the RIGHT of Rush and Hannity.

[bigfootbob]

Calm down. I was referring to the males in our society. Where I live I see men squatting to pee and the women demanding stand up urinals for equality.

Up is down and down is up.

[Richard Kimball]

A couple of observations. First, the Waco paper only covers press releases by Baylor University and anti-Bush screeds sent to it by the home office. Second, Mart's about as low-rent as it gets. I'm amazed that someone from Mart was actually mowing a lawn. Usually, they're sitting on living room furniture in the front yard complaining about those city slickers from Hubbard and Moody.

[thegreatbeast]

Being stung that many times could kill a person. This guy is looking to be mighty lucky twice.

[rellimpank]

--if a utility undertook to remove all wasp nests and beehives from its territory, I wonder what the reaction of the tree-huggers would be?

[b4its2late]

This guy is the "bees knees" too..... LOL!

[jacquej]

Well, we can all sue when we get SARS, I guess, since we won't have been properly informed and protected...

Trouble is, we all eventually get stuck with the pricetag, even though we don't know it...

[CobaltBlue]

>>if a utility undertook to remove all wasp nests and beehives from its territory, I wonder what the reaction of the tree-huggers would be?<<

Wasps are an important part of the ecology. They kill insects, e.g., caterpillars that eat trees and other vegetation. I kill wasps that threaten my family but otherwise leave them alone, and let them do their job.

And yes, I love trees.

[sit-rep]

This is an interesting one... I do not honestly know what my payout would be. The Hospital bills for sure, maybe ten or twenty grand?

The company did know it was there, and 200 bee stings at a time is a little bit more than a stun gun...

...Or, tell the guy to take a hike. It was an act of nature.

[rellimpank]

--I was posing it as a Catch-22 question. They didn't remove wasps,got sued. If they attempt to remove wasps, get attacked by environmental extremists for disturbing "Gaaia" or whatever name is being given Mother Nature these days--